Attachment holder for sewing machines



y 8, 1950 A. N. HALE 2,515,707

ATTACHMENT- HOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 7, 1946 .1} g. 4. gwvenkov M cflrtkur .7? Jla/le attotnag/ MAWW Patented July 18, 1950 UNI'TED STATES PATENT OFFICE .ATTACHMENT HOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES Arthur N; Hale, Stratford, Conn.,.assign0r to The Singer Manufacturing Company," Elizabeth, 'N. 3., a corporation-of New Jersey Application June 7,1946, SerialNo. 675,079

3 Claims; (01. 112-257) This invention. relates to improvements. in means for securing sewing machine attachments in' their proper operative position and it relates more particularly to securing means for that type of attachment disclosed, for example, in the U. 8. Patents of C..R.eynolds, No. 613,604, November 1', 1898, and E. J. Swanson, No. 2,173,509, a

September 19, 1939, which is capable of application to and removal from the bed-plates of sewing' machines. v

The attachment disclosed in the above mentioned patents is the well known scroll-type hemmer and is adapted to be fastened in position on the bed-plate of a sewing machine by means of a threaded stud which depends from one end of the base-plate of the attachmentv and extends through alocating hole in the sewing machine bed-plate; the stud having threaded thereon a wing-nut'which clamps the attachment in position. To assist in properly aligning the delivery end of the attachment with the stitching instrumental-ities of the sewing machine, the other endof the base-plate of the attachment is downturned to form a lip adapted to enter a locating hole provided in the usual throat-plate of the sewing machine. The depending stud with its wing-nut and the downturned lip effectively hold may be secured in working position by simply vention, showing the manner in which the im-- prove'ment operates to secure a conventional scrolhhemmer in operative position on the ma-' chine bed-plate.

Fig: 2' is a top plan view of a portion 'of' the sewing machine bed-plate with the bed slide-' plate closed; illustrating the-manner in which the attachment base-plate, shown in" dot-and-dasli lines isclanrped in proper position.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3, Fig. 2.

the attachment in its proper position and can be employed successfully on attachments adapted to-be mounted on sewing machines having no mechanism beneath the front portion of the bed in the space to be occupied by the wing-nut.

However, in the more modern high speed sewing machines having mechanism arrange'd beneath' the front portion of the bed-plate, such for example as sewin machines of the types disclosed in the United States Patents Nos. 2,151,308 and 2,332,125, the screwstud and wingnut attachment-holding means is not practical. Since the attachment disclosed in the Swanson patent is well known and used extensively in the commercial manufacture of handkerchiefs and neckties, it is desirable that means be provided whereby attachments of this type can be applied quicklyand conveniently to the bed-plates'of the high speed sewing machines now offered to the trade.

Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide attachment-holding means of simple design; which. is operable to secure attachments of conventional construction in proper operative position on the bed-plate of a sewing-machine, said attachment holding means requiring only a simple change in the construction of the usual bed slide-plate, which isused to cover .thebpening through whichuaccess may be had to. the loop-taker.

Another object of' the present. invention-is to provide an attachment-holder by which an'attachment of the conventional scroll-hemmer type a Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the bed slideplate fitted with my improvedattachment clamping means.

Referring to the drawings, the sewing machine illustrated comprises a machine-frame including a flat top bed-plate or work support Ill overhung by a bracket-arm terminating in a head II' 111 which is j'ournaled for e'n'dwi'se reciprocation a needle-bar 12' carrying at its lower end a needle [3. Formed-in thebed pl'ate' H) is an opening "I4 having parallel side edges '15 merging into a rounded inner end It. The inner end portion or" the Opening 14 is adapted to be closed-by a throat pl'ate l l secured in place by screws f8,

the'throat-plate' .being' formed with a needleaperture IS andfeed-dog'slots 20'. Operating through the slots is a conventional feed-dog 2 l' againstthe-serrated' surface of which the work" is held by a presser-foot 22 carried on the lower end of the usual spring-depressed presser-bar 23. "Along the parallel side edges [5' of the opening [4, the bed-plate III is provided with an upmally' .closedu.itsinner end. 26 abntsagainst. the

throat-plate l1 and .itsouter end-21 is substantially flush with theend of. the bed-plate 10. The

' bedlslide-plateii-is heldseatedin the guideway 24 by a memberlBsuita-bly secured .tothe under sideof. .the slide-plate and from'the oppositeendsv of which extendiwings 29 comprising underh-ung spring-.-means adapted slidablyto-engage the-under side of the bed-plate ill at opposite sides of the opening M and yieldingly to confine the slideplate 25 to sliding movements in the guideway 24.

To adapt the sewing machine to receive an attachment'of the type shown in Fig. 1, which comprises complemental scroll members 3|! and 3| carried on a shank 32 suitably fastened on a fiat base-plate 33 having at one end 2. depending '4 life of the spring-fingers is assured. Moreover, the upper spring-finger 4| is shaped so that it substantially rests directly on the throat-plate when the attachment is removed from the sewing machine. This is desirable in that the springfinger 4| does not interfere with the passage of work across the bed-plate when fiat work is being securing stud 34 and at its other end a downturned positioning-lip 35, the bed-plate I is apertured as at 36 and the throat-plate I! is apertured a at 31. The two apertures 36 and 3'! provide locating holes for the attachment and preferably are sized slightly larger than the stud 34 and the downturned positioning-lip 35 of the attachment, thus permitting the latter to be conveniently applied to the machine in proper aligned position'with the stitching mechanism.

To provide for maintaining the attachment in operative position with its securing stud and positioning-lip in their respective locating holes, the bed slide-plate 25 is equipped with means for clamping the attachment seated on the bed-plate |0.' To that end, the slide-plate 25 adjacent its inner front corner is recessed, as at 38, in its under face to receive a plate-element 3'9 fastened, preferably by rivets 40, to the slide-plate. The plate element 39 is formed with an upwardly bent laterally extending spring-finger 4| disposed so that its under surface is located above the level of the-upper surface of the slide-plate, thereby to slide over the base-plate 33 of the attachment. The spring-finger 4! is relatively stiff and is shaped to maintain thebase-plate of the attachment firmly seated on the bed-plate l0 of the sewing machine. The leading or free end of the spring-finger 4| is bent upwardly slightly so that when the slide-plate 25 is closed to effect a clamping of the attachment inits operative positionthe finger 4| will readily ride over the edge of and on the base-plate 33 of the attachment.

To assist in holding the attachment on the bed-plate l0 and to prevent the bed slide-plate 25 from yielding vertically out of its guideway 24 when the spring-finger 4| slides on the attachment base-plate 33, the plate-element 39 is formed with a second laterally projecting spring-finger 4'2 vertically spaced below the spring-finger 4| to engage the under side of the throat-plate H, as

shown in Fig. 3. The free end of the springfinger 42 is bent downwardly slightly to facilitate the sliding of the finger beneath the throatplate I1.

From the above description, it will be evident I that in applying the attachment to the machine it is only necessary partially to retract the bed slide-plate 25. place the attachment fiat on the bed-plate In in proper position with its securing stud 34 and positioning-lip 35 in their respective holes 36 and 31. and then return the bed slide- I tion of the machine required in applying the 2 present attachment-holding means thereto is small and of the simplest kind. It will be appreciated that the attachment-clampin springfingers 4| and 42 need not be-substantially sprung or distorted when they are moved into attachment-clamping position and, consequently, long stitched.

While I have referred to the fingers 4| and 42 as being spring fingers, it will be understood that these fingers may be made of substantially heavy stock so that they are rigid. In that case the spacing between the under face of the finger 4| and the upper face of the finger 42 must be accurately maintained and of a size equal to the combined thickness of the throat-plate l1 and attachment base-plate 33 (Fig. 3).

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. An attachment holder for a sewing machine having a bed-plate provided with a clearanceopening. defined by parallel guideways, compris- I ing, a bed slide-plate adapted to slide in said guideways, and a plate-element secured to said bed slide-plate, said plate-element terminating in vertically spaced opposed attachment-clamping fingers projecting beyond one end of said slide-plate, one of said fingers having its under surface disposed above the level of the upper surface of said slide-plate and the other of said fingers disposed below the under surface of said slide-plate so that the act of sliding the slideplate into its clearance-opening closing position will cause one of said fingers to ride on and engage the attachment and the other of said fingers to ride under and engage said bed-plate.

2. An attachment-holder for a sewing machine having a bed-plate provided with a clearanceopening defined by parallel guideways, comprising, a bed slide-plate adapted to slide in said guideways, and a plate-element secured to the under side of said bed slide-plate, said plateelement being formed with two vertically spaced opposed attachment-clamping fingers projecting beyond the inner end of said slide-plate, one of said fingers being bent upwardly and then horizontally so that its under surface is disposed above the level of the upper surface of said slide-plate, and the other of said fingers is shaped so that it is disposed below the under surface of said slideplate.

3. An attachment-holder for a sewing machine having a bed-plate provided with a guideway, comprising, a plate-member adapted to slide in .said guideway, said plate-member having an attachment-clamping spring-finger rigidly fastened-to said plate-member and projecting laterally therefrom beyond one of its edges, said spring-finger having its under surface located above the level of the upper surface of said platemember in attachment-clamping relation with said bed-plate.

. ARTHUR N. HALE.

' REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number" Name Date 397,887 Barnum Feb. 19, 1889 503,222 Tucker Aug. 15, 1893 1,359,877

DeVoe Nov. 23, 1920 

